Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market (2025 Edition) – Week 12 and Lucy’s Fish and Chips
This week’s episode of James and I working our way around every food stall at Norwich Market. And, this week, it was a visit to Lucy’s Fish and Chips, where James and I have been going for over a decade and which received the incredible accolade as our second (well, my second as I’m writing it) stall in 2023. James only walked by three people he knew today, although I suspect there were more as he disguises the interactions to pretend he’s anti-social. The stall also has a sister outlet on the market which we’ve already visited this year.
The menu and the prices, with an apology printed on the counter that price increases have been necessary due to increasing costs. The price increases are in keeping with other stalls, with the haddock going from £5 to £6.50 in two years and the cod from £6.50 to £8. The stall accepts cash and card, although there’s now a sign stating that they prefer cash. The queueing system felt suitably logical and the stall was constantly busy when I was there, with a wide selection of different items being ordered.
The specials are visible in the background and a reminder that they use vegetable oil here. There’s also a vegan and vegetarian menu available to broaden their appeal to non-fish eaters.
I decided against the battered cauliflower, though to be fair, anything’s an improvement on plain cauliflower. The service was friendly, engaging and personable, although it helped that they knew James as they probably remembered some odd social interaction he had with them years ago or some joke or pun he made. There’s an informal and inviting feel to this stand, so I felt welcome. I went for the small cod, chips and curry sauce for £6.50, which I thought was reasonably priced. It took twelve minutes to be prepared which seemed a long time as James got him immediately, but sometimes food is worth the wait and they were busy.
The seating area where we were able to get a seat, although James had a bit of a wait to get us one. Not that it mattered to me as I was standing on the other side of the stall excitedly waiting for my number to be called out. The problem with us deciding these stalls on the day is that I don’t know in advance to bring my own ketchup, as I’m too tight to pay whatever the cost is here. The seating area was clean and ordered, with customers sitting here fairly reliably having ordered from the stall and not being interlopers from nearby stalls which don’t have their own executive seating area.
The cod was larger than I expected and they had forgotten the scraps (which I insist on calling them, although they call them crispies at the stall), but willingly added them in a bag on request. The bottom of the cod was perhaps a little soggy, but the fish flaked away and had a depth of flavour. The batter had some crispiness to it and a pleasant taste, whilst the chips were firm on the exterior and suitably fluffy on the interior. The curry sauce was also served as a generous portion and added to the whole delicious arrangement.
James went for his usual and he was moderately annoyed to discover they’d forgotten that his usual was two small battered sausages and not just one. He forgave them though, one of the few stalls where he would. I do remember the butcher’s sausages that they used to have here and I do miss those, although James was content with the quality of his battered option today.
I left the stall feeling that I had enough food as it was sufficiently filling and the value for money was excellent. The cod was of a decent quality, the service was friendly, the surroundings were clean and it was good to be back. This is, once again, one of the best stalls that we’ve visited this year on the market. All really rather lovely.
